Manning left Thursday night but was not ready to make an announcement on whether he will play in 2015.

Broncos president Joe Ellis boarded owner Pat Bowlen’s plane Thursday morning and flew to New Orleans to pick up Manning, who had been spending time in his hometown, visiting family and getting in a few workouts to help measure his physical condition.

The meetings Thursday were an encouraging sign that Manning will return to the Broncos. He said Jan. 30 after the Bart Starr Award banquet in Phoenix that he wanted to meet personally with Elway and Ellis before making his decision. Manning, though, has always been the type who takes the necessary time to process all information before making a significant decision.

If he decides to play in 2015, Manning would have to pass a physical exam that would be administered between Feb. 23 and March 5. If he is on the Broncos’ roster March 9, his $19 million salary in 2015 becomes fully guaranteed.

That Ellis flew more than 1,000 miles to pick up Manning and bring him back to Centennial Airport (landing at 2:43 p.m.) for the meeting with Elway speaks to what the quarterback means to the Broncos.

Manning, who turns 39 next month, has justified the Broncos’ investment and then some since he signed with the team as a free agent in March 2012. In his three seasons with Denver, he has averaged 43.7 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions, 4,954 yards, a 107.8 passer rating and 12.7 victories.

There was concern about how Manning finished the 2014 season. Through seven games, he had 22 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. In his final 10 games, he threw 18 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.

He suffered a strained quadriceps late in the first half of the Broncos’ 14th game, at San Diego. After the injury, Manning was picked off four times the next week at Cincinnati, threw no touchdown passes in the regular-season finale against Oakland and passed for only 211 yards in Denver’s 24-13 playoff loss to Indianapolis.

Rest, not surgery, is expected to fully heal the quadriceps.

In addition to his chats with Elway and Ellis on Thursday, Manning met Jan. 28 with first-year Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, who was at team headquarters with his staff Thursday preparing for the NFL scouting combine that begins next week in Indianapolis.

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

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